2014 Monterey Gewurztraminer

The Scheid Viento Vineyard is
situated on a gradual east-facing slope on the western side of the
Salinas Valley at the foot of the Santa Lucia Mountain range. The
soil is composed of well-draining, calcareous shale. The climate is
cool and windy. Since our first vintage in 1984, we have been
consistently impressed with the quality of Gewürztraminer we source
from Monterey County.

VINTAGE

2014 was the second consecutive drought vintage
and featured the earliest harvesting in our 30+
year history. Early bud-break and flowering combined
with relatively warm weather throughout the
growing season led to rapid development of sugar and
flavor in many vineyards. Consequently we had
tremendous ripeness at low sugars with bright acidity
and ample tannin.

WINEMAKING

We harvested our 'Gewurz' in two passes; both in
early September. We look for disparate ripeness in the
two picks to bring complexity, exotic notes and
brightness to the final blend. The riper fruit had more
exotic character while the less ripe grapes had
crunchy acidity and more ginger and spice notes. The
riper lot was crushed on its skins and then pressed,
giving this fraction a bit of skin contact; the second
lot was pressed whole cluster. The two lots were
combined

and fermented together at 52-56 degrees for two
months.

TASTING
NOTES

Our 2014 Gewürztraminer displays classic rose, jasmine and
ginger aromatics. This is a more classically styled
vintage and relatively elegant and graceful for this extroverted
variety. We strive for balance in making
Gewürztraminer, this grape seems almost naturally prone to excess,
by crafting a wine with great balance of acid and
fruit. This balance is key with great 'Gewürz', both in texture and
flavor.